The Militant(logo) 
    Vol.60/No.28           August 5, 1996 
 
 
Independence For Puerto Rico  

The following statement was issued July 13 by James Harris and Laura Garza, Socialist Workers Party candidates for U.S. president and vice president.

Our campaign joins with and supports those marching July 14 in Puerto Rico and other actions to demand an end to Washington's colonial domination of Puerto Rico.

The Puerto Rican people are subject to U.S. laws that they have no equal hand in making. They are subject to U.S. courts over which they exercise no control. They face racist discrimination from the police, the courts, and by employers. Puerto Rican youth can be drafted into an army that enforces the national subjugation of their own nation.

The unemployment rate on the island is almost three times that in the United States while per capita income is about one third that in the U.S. The economy is organized to serve U.S. companies. An island rich in resources imports the majority of its food. Those are colonial conditions.

Our campaign explains to working people and youth in the United States that we have a enormous stake in fighting to free Puerto Rico, because the oppression of Puerto Rico is used by the rulers to divide the working class within the United States in the same way they use racism and anti-immigrant propaganda to justify second class status for layers of the working class.

A fighting movement for self determination and the independence of Puerto Rico is an aid to the fight to push back the assault on the rights of working people in the United States as well.

Our campaign stands side by side with the Puerto Rican struggle to say: Independence and sovereignty for Puerto Rico! Free the political prisoners! Close the military bases!  
 
 
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